Metal Gear! Tactical Espionage Opera
by blacksand1
Summary: In no uncertain terms, a Metal Gear Solid rendition of Repo! The Genetic Opera, without the singing. Cower in fear, puny mortals. Rated T for… yeah…
1. Genetic Repo Man

_I apologize in advance for any and all suck this Metal Gear Solid adaptation of Repo! The Genetic Opera has. I own nothing, enjoy._

**ACT I PRELUDE**

_2056: 26 years ago, an epidemic of organ failures ravaged the planet and cut the population down by millions. Out of this tragedy arose The Patriots, run by 'Major Zero', a Bio-Tech company specializing in synthetic organs and nano-technology. Organs and suppressor nano-machines are provided to the needy populace on a financial plan, making it affordable to anyone who needed them. The Patriots also developed FOXDIE, an expensive and addictive painkiller. Grave Robbers soon appeared, extracting a cheap knockoff of FOXDIE from corpses to sell on the black market. _

_The Patriots' power grew, turning them into a megacorporation with influence spreading from military affairs to fashion. Major Zero and his adopted children, Vamp, Fortune and Raiden, became the most powerful family in the entire world. _

**SCENE I**

For a city filled with searchlights, streetlights, neon signs and huge television screens, it was a pretty damn dark night. A particular Grave Robber was pondering just this as he sat on the side of the dumpster he called home. But then again, given how easy it was for Grave Robbers to be spotted among the crowds, the cover of darkness was probably a good thing. In a society where fashion now leaned towards dark, gritty, and elaborate, Grave Robbers were always drastically different; simple clothing, lighter hair, no surgical alterations.

This Grave Robber was no exception; his blonde hair hung to his shoulders and his green eyes weren't altered by nano-machines or transplants. The only thing he wore on his upper body was a trench coat and some dog tags, so it was easy to see that there were no scars from any organ transplants or minor imperfections from nano-machine injections.

He may have been a child at the time of the epidemic, but that didn't change the fact that he had been lucky.

The lucky, British drug-dealer liked to call himself Liquid Snake.

Liquid smirked; thoughts of his own luck drew his attention down the alleyway to one not-so-lucky individual. The corpse of a man with a huge bleeding incision in his torso was being thrown into the back of a garbage truck like common trash. The latest victim of a repossession. And the next one was tearing down the alleyway on broken high heels. Liquid smirked wider as she ran past his dumpster without even thinking that he could be there.

"Late on a payment, my dear? Have mouths to feed or just a cheapskate? Either way, you're going to figure out what that surgery actually cost you," Liquid purred. Soon after, a man sprinted past him faster than anyone could process. In fact, the only things Liquid could make out were the 'tails' of a dark blue bandanna flapping behind its wearer. His smirk grew.

"I had a feeling you were doing your rounds tonight," Liquid muttered before sitting back to watch the show.

The Repo Man had caught up to his victim in an instant; before the woman could let out a shriek of terror, let alone fight back, a scalpel had cleanly slit her throat all the way across. The woman's chest was cut wide open with the same scalpel before she could even hit the floor. As her blood poured off her and onto the ground, making little rivers in the grout lines between the stones in the street, the (legal) assassin yanked the synthetic heart right out of her chest. He efficiently cleaned away anything still clinging to it before inspecting the organ; when he had confirmed that it was unscathed and the serial number checked out, he stowed it away to be returned to The Patriots. The dark haired man then briskly flicked the blood off of his scalpel, used the sleeve of his black lab coat to wipe the blood off of his glasses, and sprinted away to find his next target.

Liquid let out a cackle as he slid off the dumpster and walked over to the corpse. He stood over the woman and stared down at her expression of blank surprise. The blood was staining the bottom of his shoes, but that hardly mattered. If anything it made his shoes look even better.

"Ah, Hal Emmerich, you always manage to kill someone right here at this time every night. Right where and when you first repossessed an organ without Snake's guidance. I suppose that's one way of honoring his memory," Liquid said, looking down the way Emmerich had gone. He then turned to the corpse, fished a syringe out of nowhere and plunged the needle into the woman's abdomen. FOXDIE was always better from a fresher corpse, much more potent. As Liquid stored the glowing vial away to be sold later, he remembered something.

"Right, she wasn't following him tonight. Must mean his little girl is out," Liquid muttered with a grin. He then sauntered in the direction of the cemetery.


	2. 21st Century Cure or Legal Assassin

**SCENE II**

The elevator stopped with a 'ding!' at the very top floor of The Patriots' main 'base of operations'. When it opened, two men walked out; an older Russian man spinning a revolver in one hand (while holding a file in the other), and a somewhat younger one with a trench coat-gas mask combo going on. These were the henchmen of Major Zero, Revolver Ocelot and Psycho Mantis (respectively). As these two walked into the office of their boss, they passed by his three 'children'.

Vamp sat in a chair on the far left side of the room, the depraved, semi-greasy, bisexual Romanian fiddling with a knife because he was obviously bored. Fortune was lying on a small white couch near the center of the room, the light color of the couch contrasting against her dark skin, dark leotard and blonde hair splayed around her head. Her rail gun rested in her lap, because she never went anywhere without it. She also looked about as disinterested as Vamp. On the right side of the room sat Raiden, staring at his own reflection in the floor (because they are that clean) with a ditzy smile.

Raiden never showed his real face; instead, he used Facecamo to hide it and today he chose the guise of a blonde, effeminate man. In fact, this was the default he chose for the Facecamo, though if he killed someone he could use their face as well. And he often did.

Ocelot dropped the folder on Zero's desk on his way to standing by his chair, and The Patriots' founder picked it up with a confused expression.

"What's this?" The silver-haired Englishman asked.

"Incriminating photos of those three that we were able to snag before the tabloids could get their hands on them," Mantis replied, pointing at Vamp, Fortune and Raiden as he mentioned them. Zero rolled his good eye; this was the fifth time this had happened that month, so he was no longer surprised. Zero then began to look them over.

"You disgust me," he noted casually to Vamp as he got to the photo that concerned said man.

"Yeeeaaah don't really care," Vamp replied as he continued to fiddle with his knife.

"As do you," Zero said to Fortune when he got to her photo. Fortune stared at the ceiling some more for a few seconds before becoming alert.

"Did you say something? I was totally spacing out right there," Fortune remarked, looking over at her 'father'. Zero rolled his eye once again and returned his attention to the photos.

"And you… are an idiot," Zero finished to Raiden. Raiden looked up from his own reflection with a pout.

"Am not," Raiden muttered.

"You've been staring at your own reflection in the floor for the last ten minutes. And you've been kept entertained by that," Vamp remarked to his 'brother'.

"You're just jealous because I'm pretty," Raiden shot back.

Zero rubbed his temples and grumbled, "I swear to God, being related to the three of you should be considered a disease."

Another 'ding!' was heard, and everyone turned to the elevator. A very nervous looking doctor stood in the elevator, holding a chart close to his body as a metaphorical shield. Right as they heard the 'ding!', Ocelot pointed his revolver at the elevator and Mantis started floating about a foot in the air. The doctor let out a gasp before he regained his composure, shuffled forward and handed the chart to Zero.

"I'm sorry, M-Major Zero. I'm af-fraid it's terminal," the doctor stammered. Zero looked over the chart with a completely impassive expression, not saying a word.

"… I-It's spreading rapidly, you don't have much time left," the doctor continued. Zero finished reading the chart and was silent for another minute before he slammed it down on the table with an angry grunt. Right on cue, Ocelot shot the man right between the eyes and Mantis telekinetically moved his body out the window, dropping it perfectly into a garbage truck. Zero stormed out of his office and into the elevator, Ocelot and Mantis right on his heels.

As the elevator began its descent, Ocelot let out a chuckle and remarked, "So, the man who cured the world is now wasting away himself! The irony is just spectacular."

"Those brats of yours are going to start groveling to inherit the company soon enough. Who's it going to be?" Mantis asked as he smirked beneath his mask.

Zero shot him a glare before he retorted, "You've read my mind, you know full well. I'm going to keep those vermin guessing."

Meanwhile, all was dark and calm in a certain tomb. That is, until the very back wall of it slid open and a young girl timidly stepped into the threshold. This girl was wearing a gas mask, since the tunnels she just came through were not always safe to breath in, and holding a small lamp. She hung the lamp on a nearby hook before walking into the tomb, the wall sliding shut behind her. The girl took off the gas mask and walked around to the front edge of the coffin. This girl had short, platinum blonde hair, brown eyes, and was paler than the marble of the casket she was sitting near now.

The girl gave the casket a melancholy glance as she read the name chiseled into it: _Ferishteh 'Sniper Wolf' Rekani-Emmerich. _Her mother. She smiled a little; she remembered one thing her mother had told her, a story; her mother had wanted to call her Rovak, but for her father's convenience (and so she wouldn't get teased), she had named her the English equivalent.

She had named her Sunny.

Sunny Emmerich's smile fell; that story was the only thing she remembered about her mother, before she had died. Died of the disease she had passed on to her.

"Of all the things to leave me, why did you leave your disease?" Sunny mumbled as she curled up into a ball by the tomb door. Though Sunny couldn't see them, two ghostly figures materialized near the seventeen year old. One was a woman with long, golden hair that obscured one blue eye. She was beautiful, but she didn't look happy. She couldn't stand seeing her daughter like this. Sniper Wolf hurried over to Sunny and knelt beside her, giving her a ghostly hug she couldn't feel. The other ghost was a brown haired man. His grey-blue eyes were very serious, and he regarded Wolf's actions with cold indifference.

_"Why are you bothering to hug her? You know she can't see you or feel you,"_ he remarked.

Wolf glared coldly back at him and snapped, _"You've never been a mother, Solid Snake. You wouldn't know." _

_"It's impossible for me to ever _be_ a mother, Wolf,"_ Snake shot back. Wolf said nothing, because the attention of all spirits and humans in the tomb were drawn to the secret door. Standing in the doorway was a brown chicken.

As the chicken walked over to Sunny, the girl wondered, "Solidus? What are you doing down here? You followed me, didn't you?" Yes, Solidus was one of Sunny's five chickens that she named after the states of matter. Hey, the child was locked in the house all the time so she really didn't have much else to do but become a child prodigy. Solidus ignored Sunny as she walked about the tomb, clucking with every step (as chickens are wont to do). Sunny was fine to let the chicken do as it pleased, until Solidus nudged open the door of the tomb and gingerly made its way outside.

"Solidus! Come back here!" Sunny whispered harshly after the bird. When Solidus paid her no heed, Sunny gulped and looked from the door back to her home to the cemetery outside and back again a few times.

"Okay… I'll just run out there, grab Solidus and run back. It'll be quick," Sunny whispered to herself as she carefully edged her way out of the tomb and after her chicken. Sunny then saw searchlights from the corner of her eye and dove behind a headstone to avoid detection. The FROGS were doing a routine sweep for Grave Robbers. The blonde girl kept her back pressed to the stone slab, but she kept glancing from the corner of her eye to see if the FROGS had finished their sweep.

Suddenly, right as Solidus was clucking on up to Sunny, a person's head appeared by another headstone. Sunny had to bite her tongue to keep from gasping in surprise, while the blonde man ignored her presence entirely.

He bit his lip and muttered with a frustrated tone and a British accent, "Damn, gotta work quickly." The Englishman pushed the top of the casket off and dragged the corpse out to the side that Sunny was on. Sunny didn't say a word, but watched with fascination as the man pulled a syringe from seemingly nowhere and jabbed it into the face of the corpse. As he extracted a glowing blue fluid from the body, he glanced over at Sunny. After a second or so, the girl deduced that the man was more interested in Solidus than her.

"… Is that your chicken?" he asked. Sunny nodded, afraid to speak while in this tense situation.

"Hm. Why do you have a chicken?" he questioned further.

Sunny furrowed her eyebrows and replied in a whisper, "Well why are _you _defiling a dead body?"

"I'm a Grave-Robber, it's what I do, love," the blonde man replied as he finished extracting the fluid, "You can call me Liquid Snake if you want to." Sunny gulped a little once more, but still was silent. Liquid was about to dump the body back where it belonged when a searchlight cut through the darkness and hit the two blondes.

"Shit!" Liquid cursed. Sunny immediately held her head in her hands and began to hyperventilate.

"This is no time for panic attacks! C'mon," Liquid hissed, grabbing Sunny by the wrist while she let out a surprised shriek. Liquid ran over to a nearby wall and caved in a small piece of it with a few well-placed kicks, crawling through the small hole he made without considering what could be there. Since he was her only ally right now, Sunny followed Liquid without question…

Into a mass grave that stank of decay. Sunny stared at the hundreds of corpses with wide eyes, covering her mouth and nose to keep herself from vomiting. Liquid's reaction couldn't be more different; a huge grin cut its way onto Liquid's face as he regarded the endless bounty of dead bodies.

"Once more Lady Luck decides to smile upon me!" Liquid exclaimed happily, pulling his syringe out again. As Liquid collected whatever it was he was after, Sunny just stared ahead with her traumatized expression.

"This shouldn't be happening, damn it Solidus!" Sunny whispered under her breath. Sunny let out a yelp of surprise as she was suddenly grabbed brusquely from behind and pulled out of the mass grave into a circle of FROGS all pointing their weapons at her.

"Oh please no!" Sunny exclaimed as her heart rate increased and she began to hyperventilate again. The girl felt her strength leave her as she fell to her knees and struggled to keep herself at least that high up.

_No, I can't faint, please no! _Sunny thought frantically. Her Codec began to beep, alerting her of her blood pressure and how she needed to medicate immediately. Wolf gasped and was about to run to her daughter before Snake grabbed her by the arm.

_"Someone might see you, we can't risk it!"_ Snake snapped.

_"I won't let my daughter die!"_ Wolf exclaimed back.

Within the bowels of The Patriots' base, Major Zero was watching the whole affair on a screen. He smirked; so, this was Sunny Emmerich? She might just do…

_"Let the girl go,"_ Zero's voice commanded calmly over an open Codec frequency. Sunny weakly furrowed her eyebrows; why were the FROGS suddenly being ordered off? The soldiers were hesitant to obey, but out of nowhere a dark haired man in a black lab coat with his back almost deliberately turned to Sunny appeared, making the FROGS back off. Sunny blacked out just as he was turning to her.

-

Sunny slowly opened her eyes; she wasn't out in the cemetery any more, but back in her bed. In her room. Home. Sunny sat up with a frown and shook her head a little to get her hair back to normal. It looked like she was back in her prison. She turned to her door as it opened, her father walking into the room with a kind smile and two of her chickens (Gaseous and Plasma) trailing behind him. Sunny smiled a bit; she hated staying inside her whole life, but… It was almost impossible to hate her father, Hal Emmerich. He was the most harmless, caring, puppy-dog of a man Sunny had ever known (unlike Snake, who she remembered as a badass who could kill people with his mind).

"Hey there Sunny, you feeling alright now?" Hal asked.

Sunny nodded and replied, "Yeah, I guess. I just forgot to take my meds." She just couldn't bring herself to tell him that she had snuck out, or what she had seen…

"Well, that was close. You scared me a little there," her father remarked, sitting down next to her and giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. Sunny smiled sheepishly, but really felt like crap; worrying her father made her feel terrible- after all, since her mother was gone, Sunny was everything to him.

"Alright, remember to take your medicine sweetheart," Hal said before giving her a kiss on the forehead and leaving the room. Sunny dutifully grabbed the pills and glass of water on her bedside table and swallowed them before she let out a huge sigh. She looked about her room; the prime economy may have been driven towards genetic and medical science, yet she and her father were pretty well off with him being an engineer kind of scientist. Sunny had a computer, a television and a window, but that was not enough. She wanted to really see the world, figure out her place in it. Sunny hopped out of her bed, walked over to the window and pressed her face and hands against it like a child looking into a display window at a store.

"I want to go outside…" Sunny murmured to herself longingly.

Hal stood outside the door, staring at said door as he remembered. Back when everything went wrong. Sunny had just been four; Wolf had been getting sicker and sicker, but it was nothing serious… Until he decided to try and find a cure. Hal couldn't have been thinking straight- Hal was an engineer, not a genetic kind of doctor! He shouldn't have stepped in, shouldn't have left his daughter without a mother. Shouldn't have taken up this horrible job he now possessed. Snake was probably the closest thing Sunny would remember to a second parent figure; for two years, Snake had helped Hal out with his daughter. Then a repossession had taken Snake, Hal's best friend.

"I'm a jinx, I suppose. Everyone I care for dies… And I'm only reinforcing that now," Hal muttered to himself bitterly.

"Ferishteh, Snake… I need both of you now. Maybe if you two had lived a little longer I wouldn't have done this," Hal muttered as he turned and walked down the hallway. Wolf's spirit walked along behind him, her ethereal feet not even touching the floor.

"It's alright, Hal," Wolf murmured to her husband. She knew she would go unnoticed, she had gotten used to it by this point. Snake hung farther back, still just an observer. Wolf supposed that Snake still blamed himself for everything from his death onwards. The guilt was probably too much for him to handle, so he hung back, observed, tried not to be emotionally invested though he knew he was.

Hal let out frustrated grunt and punched a hole through the nearest wall; "I keep poisoning and poisoning her, one of these days I might kill her by accident! But I can't let her leave; she's everything to me. This world is too cruel for a girl like her…" Hal looked up from the floor, his face now emotionless; he still had a few targets left. This work could not go unfinished. It was keeping Sunny safe; he couldn't stop. Hal made his way down the stairs and into the main room of the house; with very little effort Hal pushed the false fireplace away from the wall to reveal a passageway to the 'basement'. Hal briskly walked down the stairs, sliding the fireplace back as he did so.

The basement was filled with knives and scalpels, along with any other instruments he might need for the job. Hal removed his white lab coat- the guise of the engineer he used to be- and replaced it with the black one he was now associated with. After putting on a pair of black leather gloves, the glorified hit man dropped his persona to grab the last piece of his image with a sentimental look.

Hal ran his fingers over the dark blue bandanna, staring at it with a melancholy look. He never wanted to inherit this from Snake, and it would never truly belong to him; it didn't suit a Repo Man. It had fit much better when Snake had been a soldier, before The Patriots had found some way to capture the man for themselves.

"I may say this every day, but I don't deserve this Snake," Hal murmured before his emotions hid away once more and he tied the bandanna around his head. The Emmerich looked over his shoulder out of instinct once before preparing to traverse the tunnels that would lead him back to the streets.


	3. Mark It Up

**SCENE III**

The clicks of Fortune's heels could be heard throughout the entire organ storage warehouse, not just because of how loud heels tend to be normally, but because Fortune was walking with purpose. She was on the hunt for her brothers, because she was even further searching for her father. Fortune snorted as she passed a few FROGS taking inventory; when they weren't enforcing the law in their cybernetic suits, the traumatized women were only good for menial tasks and being stabbed and/or fucked by her brothers. The nano-machines suppressing their traumas suppressed other brain functions as well, leaving them less intelligent than someone jacked up on FOXDIE. Stupid women pissed her off, and she could see why Vamp loved to stab them so much.

When the scantily clad woman found her brothers, she wasn't surprised by what she found; the body of a FROG was being dragged away from where it used to lie by Vamp's feet- the murderer in question now fiddling with a knife once more- and several other FROGS were fawning over Raiden.

Fortune grumbled a few curses under her breath before she snapped, "Oi, you two! Where the fuck is Dad?" Immediately Vamp turned to glare at her.

"I don't know where he went, but I _can_ tell you that he left me in charge of this place. I'm _also _not gonna take any lip from a slut like you," Vamp shot back. Fortune let out a growl, but instead of retaliating with words, the woman hoisted her rail gun onto her shoulder and shot Vamp straight through the stomach. Vamp was dead for all of five seconds. As his grievous wound regenerated and Vamp prepared to lob a knife in his sister's general direction, a nearby FROG panicked when she heard the shot, drew her FN P90 and shot straight at Fortune. It would've killed any other woman, but instead it flew harmlessly over Fortune and hit another FROG right between the eyes (killing her instantly).

Both Vamp and Fortune stared at the FROG with condescending expressions while the woman stared back with a horrified one. Fortune smirked and said, "Have your fun Vamp," before walking away to continue her search elsewhere. Vamp grinned maliciously and plunged the knife into the FROG's chest, just missing her heart. As the FROG fell to the floor, struggling and choking on her own blood, Raiden smirked at his brother.

"Oh Vamp, you should just settle your differences with Helena the way I settle everything… with se-"

"I am _not _fucking my sister, now shut up," Vamp hissed, shooting a particularly nasty glare his brother's way. Raiden pretended to cower in fear while still wearing a mocking grin.

"And besides, you're the one who's going to be left behind when father chooses me to take over The Patriots," Vamp continued, now grinning smugly at Raiden.

The effeminate man raised his eyebrows and scoffed, "And why are _you _so confident that you'll inherit Dad's legacy?"

"Simple. I can actually read and have a higher IQ than a walrus hopped up on Ecstasy, unlike you or Fortune," the Romanian answered with a shrug. Raiden frowned as his intelligence was attacked once again.

"I may not be smart, but if anything, my looks are pretty damn persuasive," Raiden remarked, "Just look how these FROGS are throwing themselves at me! I could spread that influence out to anyone I want." Raiden then changed his Facecamo between a number of beautiful faces, a large amount of those belonging to women, to prove his point. Vamp scoffed in turn before he walked to stare down his brother.

He then snarled, "But are you willing to tear me and Fortune apart to get The Patriots?" Raiden let out a dry chuckle as he stepped away from his admirers to glare up at his brother.

"I'd rip you two to shreds if that's what it took," Raiden hissed in return.

"Then you'd better follow through on that. I'll look forward to a good fight," Vamp growled, a sinister grin making it's way onto his face as he retrieved a knife from God-knows-where. Raiden grabbed the hilt of the sword strapped to his back and grinned his own malicious grin; a gesture of 'Bring It On' if there ever was one. On another note, the unfortunate FROG Vamp had stabbed just bled to death.


	4. Things You See In A Graveyard

**SCENE IV**

Sunny flipped through the pages of the thick book with a disinterested look; she had read this book several times already, so it ceased to interest her. Her relatively small television was on in the background, mostly as white noise. But it immediately drew the ill girl's attention as one of the many commercials for The Patriots appeared on the screen; she could care less what was actually being advertised, what actually mattered to her was the prerecorded footage behind the advertisement. The footage was of a beautiful woman singing in The Patriots' Genetic Opera, a woman with chocolate brown hair and unnaturally luminescent cerulean eyes; Naomi Hunter, the star of the Genetic Opera.

Sunny was probably not the only girl in the world who admired the idol, but it wasn't like she knew any other girls. Naomi's voice was amazing; it was a damn shame that she was apparently retiring after that night.

_"I'm sti~ill in a dre~eam, Snake Eateeeeer," _Naomi sang, and Sunny mouthed along. Out of nowhere, Sunny's Codec began to beep, alerting her of a message from Major Zero. Sunny furrowed her eyebrows as she got into a crouching position and pressed her ear to activate the Codec; first Zero calls off the FROGS when they're about to attack her, and now he's calling her on her Codec? Why was the founder of the world's most powerful company suddenly taking an interest in some sickly girl? It didn't add up… Nevertheless, Sunny let her Codec play the message.

_"Miss Sunny Emmerich, you don't know me, but your mother was once very dear to me," _the recorded voice of Zero began. Sunny's eyes widened; Zero knew her mother…?

_"I can help you find a cure for your blood disease. Meet me in your mother's tomb," _the recording finished. Sunny was speechless; could she really be cured? From what little progress had been made over eleven years, Sunny almost suspected that her disease was incurable. This entire thing still stank, but Sunny's nose had been out in the cold for too long. The daughter of Hal Emmerich and Sniper Wolf quickly changed from her nightgown to street clothes, slung a bag that had her medication in it over her shoulder and made her way to the tunnels that would lead her outside…

Meanwhile, Zero had just gotten into the car that would take him to the previously mentioned rendezvous. And to say the least, his non-psychic henchman was thoroughly confused.

"Why are you even considering the daughter of one of your Repo Men as a potential heir? It doesn't make a bit of sense," Ocelot stated, spinning his revolver more furiously with his agitated state of mind. Zero cracked a grin; Mantis _could _tell his fellow henchman what he had gained from Zero's mind, but Zero thought the story was best told by the one it directly concerned.

"The children I adopted from Solidus and Colonel Dolph were a bust; those ingrates aren't getting a thing. My legacy is far too grand to be wasted on them," Zero began, "However, Sunny Emmerich is the daughter of Hal Emmerich. I admit, he was a great engineer and a decent doctor, but that doesn't excuse the fact that he stole Sniper Wolf from me! He still blames himself for her sudden demise… Never _once _suspected the man writing his checks!" Zero let out a cackle, while Ocelot was fairly unphased by this revelation.

"Solid Snake _almost _found out the truth. Pity he had to go, he was the best Repo Man The Patriots ever did see. Now Emmerich is in his place by force, and I'll take my secret to the grave," Zero continued with a wicked grin. Right then the car stopped in front of the of Sniper Wolf's tomb, right as Sunny had arrived there from the tunnels. Zero exited the car and walked right to the foot of Wolf's tomb; in his condition, it should be impossible for him to have walked as fluidly as he did (in fact it was rather difficult), but Zero wasn't giving up his dignity because of his illness just yet.

"Hello there Wolf- though I suppose I shouldn't be calling you that since FOXHOUND is long dissolved. I suppose you know this by now, but it's Zero," the Englishman began. Snake and Wolf materialized before Zero, glaring daggers at the man even though they were certain he couldn't see them. Though the two of them had their own scores to settle with the founder of The Patriots, they could never forgive him for what he did to their unit; Zero had brutally dissolved them, killing any of the members he didn't have under the control of The Patriots. When he had mentioned FOXHOUND's dissolving, Wolf and Snake had become a united front.

The only living members of FOXHOUND were Ocelot, Mantis, Liquid Snake, Gray Fox and Big Boss; Liquid had hidden in the underground, while Gray Fox and Big Boss had all but dropped off the face of the Earth.

"You never should've run away with that _engineer_," Zero hissed, spitting out the word _engineer _like it was poison, "I could've given you the world, but you had to force my hand…"

"I never wanted the world, I wanted Hal and I wanted freedom!" Wolf yelled back. Wolf's cry could actually be heard as a faint echo, but you would have to strain your ears to hear it. And even then, it just sounded like the howl of a wolf.

"Well, now that I'll be joining you, I'll have to break your husband one last time," Zero hissed as his grin returned.

He turned on his heel to the car as Mantis noted, "She's in the crypt, boss." This was the only thing Sunny could hear as she pressed herself against the crypt wall out of fear.

"Well then bring her out here," Zero commanded. Without warning, the door of the tomb began to glow green and slid open of its own accord, an ominous melody appearing from nowhere. Sunny barely had time to make an exclamation of surprise before the green glow surrounded her. Her legs then started moving of their own will, forcing her to walk out of the tomb despite her struggling. A door on the car she was being lead towards opened with the same psychic energy; so, whoever was manipulating her gave up on making her walk and just flung her into the car as she let out a terrified shriek.

Sunny landed in the empty seat between an older Russian man dressed somewhat like a cowboy (spinning a revolver around obsessively) and a younger, bald man in a gas mask and trench coat; Sunny let out a small 'oof!' as her butt slammed unceremoniously against the leather, wincing as well. She couldn't hear the strange music anymore, but she wasn't focused on that. When Sunny regained her bearings, she looked up from her knees to see Major Zero in all his 'glory' in the opposite seat, smiling at her in a rather creepy fashion. Sunny shuddered, but stayed quiet.

"Ah, Miss Sunny, glad to see you've joined us. I'm Major Zero. I'm sorry to have had Mantis manipulate you like that, but, you're a rather tough one to find, you know, climbing through holes in the ground and such," Zero remarked, "Tell me, why do you hide such a pretty face away?"

Sunny gulped as she nervously chewed her bottom lip before answering meekly, "I can't be outside. I… have a blood disease." Zero's smile did not fade; in fact, it became even wider.

"Ah yes, that dreadful ailment of yours. But, there is hope; an antidote, and you could be the first to sample it. The Patriots' cure for blood diseases, a whole new kind of suppressor nano-machines. We could use someone like you as the very first one to be cured by it," Zero continued. Sunny nervously picked at the bottoms of her shorts, not sure how to proceed.

"It's the cure you've been searching for, Sunny. Your gateway to the outside world. It's right in your grasp, my dear," Zero goaded with a grin.

"I- I don't know, I-"

"A function awaits. Will you attend it with me?"

"I- I can't-"

"Naomi Hunter will be there."

"Naomi?"

"Yes. In fact, the two of you should meet."

"N-no, I have to go home. My dad will worry…" Zero's grin then spread to its widest.

"Who says your father needs to know everything?" Zero wondered.


	5. End of Act 1

**SCENE V**

The Italian Renaissance Festival- of course hosted by The Patriots- was in full swing. This celebration of Big Shell Square's opening was quite colorful and festive, even though it was filled with macabre imagery of body modification… Raiden was happy as a clam; he had just procured a beautiful new face, how could he not be happy? Though, the woman he had killed to get it wasn't that happy…

Vamp, however, was a different story entirely. Suffice to say, the Romanian was not in a good mood.

"Someone is going to be stabbed repeatedly in the eyes if I don't _get_ _**my**_ _**BLOOD!**_" Vamp shouted. Yes, Vamp had a penchant for blood. What, are you surprised?

"AB?" A rare male FROG suggested meekly.

"I WILL STAB YOU IN THE FACE!!" Vamp yelled back in response.

"S-sorry Mister Vamp, sir, here's some more," the same FROG said, handing Vamp a blood pack _(A/N: if you don't know what that looks like check out Hellsing)_ of O+ that Vamp ripped open with his teeth. After five seconds Vamp growled and threw the blood back at the FROG.

"What is this, rat piss died red?!" Vamp roared. Vamp procured another knife from nowhere and began to repeatedly stab the poor FROG.

"Vamp, stop!" Naomi Hunter exclaimed, running up to the violent Romanian with a worried expression. Vamp glared up at Naomi, but the singer's attention was taken away from Vamp as Fortune stormed up.

"Who's going to sing after you're gone then?!" Fortune demanded.

"Fortune, please, it's not my place," Naomi pleaded. She wanted nothing more than to be away from the dark skinned blonde right now.

"Someone's gotta sing, why can't it be me?!" Fortune exclaimed, following after Naomi and harshly turning her by the shoulder.

"Sister, please-" Raiden began as he caught up, but Vamp eloquently told him to "Shut your face!"

"Listen, you bitch!" Fortune began before Vamp interrupted once more.

"When _I'm _running The Patriots-"

"Oh in your dreams!"

"Dad loves me, they _all _love Raiden-"

"When he kicks the bucket you're all gonna respect me!" Naomi clutched the sides of her head, listening to Zero's three children was enough to drive her insane! She just wanted to get out of here, do her final performance and then…

"That's enough!" The four heads of Vamp, Fortune, Raiden and Naomi whipped around to see Zero looking absolutely furious. This was enough to intimidate his children into going away, but Naomi was interested now; there was a new figure by Zero's side. Between Zero and Ocelot stood a seventeen-year-old girl with short, platinum blonde hair, large brown eyes and skin paler than marble. Naomi's eyes widened; it couldn't be…

"Ah, Naomi, I'd like you to meet someone. The daughter of an old friend, and a ghost from your past," Zero began, indicating the girl by his side (now smiling semi-sheepishly and waving awkwardly). Naomi was almost convinced, until her eyes flashed an even brighter blue… And she saw Sniper Wolf and Solid Snake standing just behind her; Wolf was smiling at her and waving, just like the girl, while Snake just smiled a little.

… _This is Sunny? _Naomi wondered, now shocked.

"Ah yes, seeing the two of you brings back memories," Zero mentioned, "Naomi wasn't much older than you, Sunny, when I first heard her sing. I then decided I had to help her see, so her talent could bloom. I could help you as well, my dear."

Naomi was about to speak to the girl, when she heard the intercom screech, "Will the voice of The Patriots please come to the stage? Naomi Hunter, to the stage." Naomi pursed her lips; _wonderful _timing on the intercom's part. Reporters soon swarmed Naomi and Zero as they made their way to the stage to cut the ribbon on Big Shell Square.

"Must you leave us, Naomi dear?" Zero said, still smiling for the cameras.

Naomi put on a sad smile and replied, "I'm sorry, I have to. I'll never be able to spread my wings if I stay."

"Technically, you belong to The Patriots…" Zero mentioned. Naomi gulped, but put a smile on as Zero laughed, "But you know I'm joking! I hope life is kind to you after you leave us Naomi."

"Thank you for the opportunity, and the eyes, as well Major Zero," Naomi replied with a small curtsy. But she mentally cursed; she had forgotten about that _tiny _part of her contract. Her eyes were forfeit if she left The Patriots; it looked like she'd have to add a new stage to her plan. As she cut the ribbon on the gates, Naomi was only focused on one thing: Sunny, clapping in the very first row of the crowd. She looked so much like Sniper Wolf…

Sunny found herself being manipulated again by this 'Mantis's psychic powers, and was being pushed through the crowds once more as that creepy humming began again; when he let his hold on her disappear, Sunny was back in a tent with the older Russian outside the entrance. Sunny almost wanted to try and leave the tent, but something about the Russian made her not want to tangle with him…

"How will I get home?" Sunny wondered, sitting on the ground.

Suddenly, her Codec began to beep; it was her father. Sunny cursed under her breath before getting on one knee and answering.

"Hey, Sunny, did you remember to take your medicine?"

"Yeah, I did," Sunny replied, smiling sadly to herself. Once again, she hated herself for deceiving her father…

"That's good, I'm still a little shaken up from that near miss we had earlier," Hal mentioned as he reached into a man's cranium to pull out his brain; this was his last assignment for the night, or at least he hoped so. Hal bit his lip, hoping the grisly ripping sound of the brain stem coming out couldn't be heard by Sunny.

Sunny furrowed her eyebrows; what was that grisly 'rrrrriiip' sound she heard in the background? Her father was an engineer… There was nothing around his workplace that would make this sound. Sunny ignored it, it was probably nothing. Her father was just an engineer, and that sound probably came from somewhere in the festival. Definitely.

"Alright sweetheart, I'll be home soon after I'm done working on these schematics," Hal stated.

"No, Dad, just take your time," Sunny replied instantly. Hal blinked a few times; why did she sound so nervous?

"… Well, I'll be home in a little while. I love you, Sunny," Hal finished.

"Love you too dad," Sunny replied with a gulp as Hal cut the call short. Sunny could feel her blood pressure rising and didn't need her Codec to tell her that; she fished through her bag frantically to find her medicine and popped a few of the pills. Sunny took a few deep breaths to calm herself down…

Before jumping almost a foot in the air when Liquid Snake ripped through the side of the tent in the cleanest way Sunny had ever seen a person rip through a tent. Not that she saw that on a regular basis, though…

"Wha- L-Liquid?" Sunny stammered.

"The one and only, love," Liquid replied, stepping into the tent.

He picked a strange, gun-like instrument up off of the ground before turning to Sunny, offering her his hand and saying, "We need to get out of here."

"I couldn't agree more," Sunny breathed, grabbing the Grave Robber's hand and letting him pull her out of the tent and out into the crowded festival.

**END OF ACT 1**


	6. FOXDIE Anatomy

**ACT 2**

**SCENE VI**

Liquid and Sunny didn't stop running until they had reached some of the city's dirtiest back alleys. Liquid's normal territory. Sunny leaned against a wall to catch her breath, but was soon approached by a blonde, trashy woman.

"How old are you?" the woman wondered skeptically.

"Seventeen," Sunny replied meekly.

The woman smirked and stated, "I had _my _first surgery when I was thirteen. And thanks to FD, I couldn't feel or remember a thing. A month later, I was turning tricks." Sunny shuddered as the woman walked away and approached Liquid. Everything about that woman disturbed her.

As the woman circled Liquid (and others slowly joining her), the Grave Robber scoffed to himself and muttered, "I've almost forgotten why I do this by this point. It certainly doesn't help me stay off the radar. But what's more troubling is why these people even _need _me!" Liquid then pushed the woman away before screwing a vial of that glowing substance he had been harvesting into the back of that gun and holding it up in the air. Immediately the- well, Sunny supposed they were junkies- junkies swarmed around Liquid, climbing up his body like a tree to get to the luminescent fluid.

Liquid laughed before explaining partly to Sunny, "FOXDIE comes in a little glass vial."

"A little glass vial?" Sunny echoed (as she remembered Snake doing in the past).

"A little glass vial~!" The FOXDIE junkies chorused back to her.

"And that little glass vial goes into the gun like a battery," Liquid continued as he pressed the gun against the trashy woman's forehead (the woman handing Liquid something that Sunny couldn't see), "You press the gun to you, and when it goes off… you're ready to get cut." Liquid pulled the trigger and a spark went off, sending the woman falling to the ground, still very much alive but numb to the core.

"A hit of this stuff makes you forget who you are and how to feel. It's just that powerful, dear," Liquid continued. Sunny made a face as Liquid shot up another junkie after they paid him; this 'FOXDIE' didn't seem like something anyone in their right mind would get addicted to…

"Oi!" Everyone not currently hopped up on FOXDIE turned to see none other than Fortune strutting towards Liquid with a confident smirk. Liquid smirked himself, but Sunny could tell that Fortune was probably one of the _last _people Liquid wanted to see.

"You're not the only one who wonders why we need you," Fortune mentioned, flipping her blonde hair over one shoulder. Sunny never noticed when she saw photos of Zero's adopted daughter, but now that she was seeing the woman in person, Sunny realized that Fortune's face was two shades lighter than the rest of her skin…

"Miss Fortune here is a _perfect _example. For she just happens to be addicted to the knife," Liquid began once more as he sauntered over to Fortune; the dark skinned woman kept backing up until Liquid was effectively cornering her.

"Addicted to the knife?" Sunny echoed.

"Addicted to the knife~," the junkies chorused back once more.

"And, addicted to the knife, she needs a little help with the agony," Liquid continued with a wicked grin; a grin that disappeared as Fortune leaned into him with a smile she thought was seductive.

"Go on, _Liquid_, help me," Fortune purred. Faster than Sunny could process, Liquid had pressed the FOXDIE gun to Fortune's forehead and fired; the woman was down in an instant, number than a corpse.

"Don't call me that," Liquid snapped. Sunny cautiously approached the Grave Robber as Fortune writhed around on the ground in a daze, not aware of the other junkies closing in.

"She didn't even pay you…" Sunny noted.

Liquid shrugged before he grumbled, "The idiot keeps trying to use sex as an alternative form of payment. If she was actually attractive without all the surgery, I might have considered it. By this point I numb her just to get her distracted."

Out of nowhere, Fortune regained the senses to sing (off-key), _"I give my li~ife, not for ho~nor, but for yo~ou…" _

Everyone stared at her awkwardly before Sunny wondered, "Isn't that one of Naomi Hunter's songs?"

"Who said that?!" Fortune snapped (her speech slurred from the powerful painkiller flowing through her system), trying to get to her feet and failing a few times. Liquid just pointed at Sunny while backing off slowly.

Sunny shot him a frantic glare, but she whipped her head back to Fortune as the woman demanded, "So, you think you've got heart or balls or something? You think Naomi can sing? Huh, kid?!"

"I- I don't think anything," Sunny mumbled, backing away from Fortune while Fortune just closed in on her.

"So you think _Naomi's _got pipes?! Well it's gonna be my time to shine when the Repo Man comes after her!" Fortune laughed, using her rail gun to steady herself as she stumbled after Sunny.

Sunny furrowed her eyebrows and asked, "What are you talking about?" Fortune rolled her eyes and briskly handed Sunny something. Sunny blinked a few times before she discovered that Fortune had handed her…

A tabloid? Well, whatever it was, it was made out of paper and Sunny didn't have the slightest clue what it meant. This was what she got for accepting things from someone hopped up on FOXDIE. Her first lesson of the outside world had been learned.

"Naomi's contract has some mighty fine print," Liquid began, sliding over to Sunny as if nothing had happened.

"Some mighty fine print?" Sunny echoed for the third time.

"Yes, you have effectively repeated what I just said," Liquid replied.

Sunny grinned sheepishly and apologized, "My bad. I picked up that habit a while ago."

"Anyways, if Naomi stops being the voice of The Patriots, her eyes are forfeit. When that happens, a Repo Man will come after her and take back what belongs to The Patriots," Liquid finished with a smirk. Sunny's eyes widened in shock; well, who wouldn't be shocked if they learned that their idol's eyes would be ripped out if they left their current employer?!

Before Sunny could comment, sirens cut through the sounds of the alleyway and FROGS flooded almost every escape route; both Liquid and Sunny cursed under their breaths before Liquid grabbed Sunny's hand and made a run for the only escape route left. The Grave Robber and sickly girl leapt onto the back of a receding garbage truck, Liquid landing with ease and Sunny's feet skidding against the ground for a few feet before she could pull herself all the way on.

Sunny took a few deep breaths as the garbage truck rolled along at a comfortable pace; after all this, she wanted nothing more than to go home. Seeing everything out here… It was no wonder her dad kept her locked up all the time. Sunny then blinked a few times in awareness; her traveling companion was humming to himself…

Sunny then cringed a little as she turned to see Liquid extracting some more FOXDIE from a body right there in the back of the truck, smiling and humming as he did so.

As the Grave Robber finished his work and transferred the FOXDIE to a vial, he tipped his imaginary hat to the corpse and said, "Thank you, my good man, for the FOXDIE."

"Why did you just thank that corpse?" Sunny wondered, hugging her knees to her chest and raising a pale eyebrow.

"It's just good business," Liquid replied matter-of-factly, "A distributor should always thank his or her supplier. It's the polite thing to do, though Americans would know nothing of manners."

"Oh, yeah, I wanted to ask you that… Why are you here if you're British?" Sunny questioned further.

Liquid did not reply with words at first, but instead removed his dog tags and handed them to his sickly companion. Sunny looked them over with a perplexed expression; they were different than Sunny had seen in pictures. The content was nothing like what normal dog tags had.

"_Liquid Snake. FOXHOUND. AB-, NORELPREF," _was all the tags had on them.

"FOXHOUND was a special ops unit of the military. All of us were from different places, because we were picked specifically by our commanding officer. Everything personal that could be known about me was kept under wraps, and the same went for the rest of the unit," Liquid explained as Sunny handed him the dog tags again, "Zero wormed his way into the military and was able to dissolve FOXHOUND; but before it was destroyed, FOXHOUND consisted of myself, Revolver Ocelot, Psycho Mantis, Vulcan Raven, Decoy Octopus, Gray Fox, Sniper Wolf and Solid Snake."

Sunny's eyes widened and she exclaimed, "My mom and Uncle Snake were in the military?!"

Liquid smirked and continued, "Yes, your mother was a brilliant sniper. Snake was one of the best soldiers the century would ever see, an expert in espionage, and my older brother. Neither of us, however, would surpass the commander. Our father, Big Boss."

"Wow," Sunny breathed as she hugged her knees tighter to her chest; she imagined her mother looking through the scope of a sniper rifle, and surprisingly the image fit. She then tried to imagine Snake on some kind of sneaking mission… and got an image of him in a cardboard box. Sunny shook her head a bit to rid herself of the image.

"So, are you just helping me out because I'm the daughter of an old comrade?" Sunny asked.

Liquid laughed and noted, "That's not enough reason to help someone out my dear. No, I suppose I'm helping you out because of two reasons…"

Liquid paused to hold up one finger before he began, "The first is that it's a good way to pass the time," Liquid held up a second finger and continued, "The second is that I've grown somewhat fond of you."

"Fond of me?" Sunny echoed AGAIN.

"You _have _to stop doing that, it annoyed the hell out of me when Snake did it," Liquid mentioned irately. Sunny laughed sheepishly and Liquid rolled his eyes.

"You have never felt the sting of a scalpel, never been pricked by a syringe as it deposited nano-machines into your blood. You are pure, and better yet, you are untarnished by this ugly world," the Grave Robber continued, almost speaking to himself by this point, "Seeing you broken by this cruel and vicious place would destroy my faith in humanity and I would become an empty, cynical shell."

Sunny blinked a few times to organize her thoughts, but she couldn't reply, for they had reached the cemetery and were rolling up to her mother's mausoleum. Sunny hopped off the back of the truck and looked over her shoulder at the receding vehicle; Liquid grinned at her and gave her a little salute. Sunny waved back at him before retreating to the cold, familiar tomb.


	7. Night Surgeon?

**SCENE VII**

Sunny slid the part of the wall back into place as she stepped into the main room, looking around and seeing nobody but her chickens. Sunny allowed herself a smile as she carefully walked up the stairs to her room; for once, she was actually _glad _to be back home…

A few minutes after Sunny had disappeared up the stairs, the false fireplace slid away and Hal himself walked into the main room. His guise was back up, and once more he was himself, not the Repo Man persona he had created. Right as Hal slid the fireplace back where it belonged, his Codec began to beep. Hal cursed under his breath; it _had _to be Zero, nobody else- except for Sunny- knew his frequency.

Hal answered the message, and Zero's recorded voice ordered, "Hal Emmerich, come to my office at once. I must give you this assignment in person." As the message cut off, Hal furrowed his eyebrows; who could be so important that their identity couldn't be disclosed over the Codec?

"Alright, I'll just check on Sunny, then I'll go. I'll make it quick, too," Hal muttered to himself. Hal walked up the stairs and opened the door to Sunny's room carefully enough not to make any noise; this proved to be a wise decision, for Sunny was fast asleep.

Hal smiled a little and murmured, "Goodnight, sweetheart," before closing the door and going down the stairs to drop his guise _again_.

Sunny waited until she couldn't hear her father's footsteps any more to sit up and run her thin hands through her hair; faking it was a little less stressful to her than outright deceiving her father. The ill girl fished the tabloid handed to her by Fortune out from where she hid it beneath her pillow and began to read. Maybe she could learn something from this…

The elevator doors opened with the ever so familiar 'ding!', and Zero allowed himself to smirk as Hal walked briskly out. Of course the glorified assassin was in his normal Repo Man attire, though the bandanna that had once belonged to Solid Snake was tied around his wrist instead of his head; a sign that he wasn't in persona just yet. In his left hand was a bag with a cooling mechanism hooked into it; Zero had a good feeling what was in there… Hal walked impassively past Vamp, Fortune and Raiden to stand right in front of Zero's desk; he opened the bag and let the brain of his last target roll out unceremoniously.

"Well well, looks like you brought a little something with you," Vamp drawled, sauntering up and twirling a knife, "Looks appetizing. I'd definitely go for a slice of gray matter."

"Oh Vamp, don't mock the dramatic entrance," Fortune commented, sitting up from her normal position and folding her arms behind her head like a cushion.

"Why is my next 'assignment' so important that you can't give me their identity over Codec?" Hal asked, ignoring the comments of Zero's adopted children.

"I had a feeling you'd ask this; the identity of this one is of a sensitive nature. She's an employee of The Patriots, a singer we all know very well," Zero replied as Ocelot turned on the screen. Naomi's very own profile- as both a client and property of The Patriots- appeared, large red letters marking her to be repossessed written over it. Hal's eyes widened in shock.

"She's a traitor to The Patriots," Vamp continued with a wicked grin.

"Her last performance is tonight," Fortune added, coming up beside Hal with Vamp and smirking maliciously.

"Naomi's face is so _beautiful_," Raiden cooed, leaning up next to Fortune and staring at Naomi's profile in envy.

"You have to take her out," everyone said in unison. Hal remained silent, staring at the screen.

"Naomi… Naomi was Wolf's friend," Hal whispered, looking away from the screen.

"Oh, you're breaking my Goddamn heart," Vamp mocked.

"I know it will be hard for you Hal," Zero began.

"You could reunite them this way~!" Raiden chirped.

"It's for the best," Fortune commented, examining her nails.

"But you're the only Repo Man for the job. All of the others don't have the precision, the efficiency that you have," Zero continued, but the attempts to convince Hal were all silenced by one sentence:

"He's not gonna do it."

Everyone turned to Psycho Mantis with looks of shock, except for Hal and Ocelot. Since their resident psychic had said this, there was a _very _good chance it was so.

Immediately Zero rushed over to his best Repo Man and hissed, "Hal, you _must _do this! Being a Repo Man is what's keeping Sunny safe! Remember what you did to Wolf, how you got into this. Snake left you his bandanna, you have to carry on for him-"

"Worst possible thing you could've said," both Hal and Mantis said in perfect time, though Mantis had face palmed while doing so.

"Snake never wanted any part of The Patriots; he only did this to save Meryl. From FOXHOUND and myself, I say: find someone else," Hal declared, his tone completely even and emotionless. The Emmerich promptly turned to walk out of the silent room.

"Emmerich!" Zero shouted after him.

"Find. Someone. Else," Hal repeated sternly as he left the room.

"Nobody walks away from me Emmerich! EMMERICH!!" Zero roared.

The Englishman let out a few frustrated grunts before he growled, "He wants out? I'll take him out…"


	8. Chase the Morning

**SCENE VIII**

Naomi Hunter opened the car door without the help of her driver; even though she had been a star for so long, she still didn't like things being done for her. Not for sentimental reasons though, just because it bugged her.

Naomi turned to her driver and said, "I'm not sure how long I'll be gone, so just stay here until I come back out."

Without waiting for confirmation, Naomi turned to the gate and examined it; Hal had done a good job making it secure, but she had seen Frank break through worse (while she could still see anyways).

Naomi was about to get to work on breaking in, when her eyes flashed; floating beside her was a man in army fatigues covered by a black, hooded, poncho-style raincoat with grey hair slicked back and glasses. One of the lenses of his glasses was shattered, and blood came from the eye behind the shattered lens like a bloody tear.

"Sorrow? What are you doing here?" Naomi asked. The Sorrow was the very first ghost her eyes had permitted her to see, and she had gotten used to him by this point; he had been a spirit medium while he was alive, so he was very adept at showing and hiding himself to certain people.

"_Naomi, just what are you doing?" _TheSorrow sighed, sounding like a father catching his children in a ridiculous act.

"I'm breaking into my Goddaughter's house. What does it look like?" Naomi replied simply.

The Sorrow sighed once more before replying, _"I think you should go about this in a much more… tasteful way. After all, I'm not sure that Gray Fox would be quite happy with his little sister using his skills for breaking and entering." _Naomi looked away, and The Sorrow remembered how sensitive Naomi had become about Gray Fox after her surgery…

"_I'm sorry for mentioning Gray Fox like that, but what I said still stands," _The Sorrow mentioned. Naomi's eyes flashed again, and floating next to The Sorrow were Wolf and Snake.

"_I don't appreciate you breaking into my house, Naomi," _Wolf remarked teasingly.

"_You'll scare the kid to death if you break in like that," _Snake added.

"Okay, will you guys be satisfied if I at least knock on the door?" Naomi asked, a little exasperated by this point. All the ghosts nodded in tandem, and Naomi's eyes flashed a third time to banish the ghosts from her vision…

Naomi realized at that point that to the common person on the street- and (unbeknownst to Naomi) Sunny watching from her window- that it looked like she had been making lovely conversation with the empty space beside her.

"And now I'm about to make myself look even more insane," Naomi murmured before climbing over the wall near the gate with surprising grace for a woman in a dress and heels. Naomi landed perfectly on her feet on the other side and was about to walk up to the door when she caught something from the corner of her eye; Naomi turned to the door and saw that Sunny was standing in the open doorway.

"Hello Ms. Hunter," Sunny said politely, "Would you like to come inside?"

Naomi blinked a few times in shock before she put on a polite smile, nodded curtly, and replied, "Why thank you Miss Sunny, I would love to." Naomi walked with as much dignity as she could to the door and followed Sunny inside, closing the door behind her.

"I'm not allowed to have strangers inside, but I can make up something to my dad if he shows up," Sunny mentioned as she walked over to her chickens (which she kept in the kitchen) to feed them for the night. Naomi raised an eyebrow, wondering why the girl had chickens…

"I think you'll be fine. I'm- I used to be a friend of Ferishteh," Naomi remarked, following the girl into the kitchen and taking a look around.

"Really? You were my mom's friend? Did you know the other members of FOXHOUND too?" Sunny wondered, turning from her chickens with a surprised expression.

It was Naomi's turn to be surprised now as she asked in return, "Who told you about FOXHOUND?"

"Liquid Snake," Sunny replied simply.

"Liquid's still out there… Anyways, I didn't know all of FOXHOUND, but I was a good friend to your mother and Snake. In fact… Your mother actually made me your Godmother," Naomi explained. Sunny's head whipped around so fast it looked like the girl should get whiplash.

"R-really?!" Sunny exclaimed happily, a huge grin on her face. Naomi smiled a little more and her eyes flashed a few times, revealing Wolf to her daughter.

Wolf was surprised at first- and Sunny was outright shocked- but she then smiled at her daughter and said, _"Yes, Sunny. Naomi is your Godmother." _

Sunny could only stammer, "M-mom…?" Naomi's eyes flashed a second time against the singer's will, making Wolf invisible once more.

"How… How did you do that eye thing?" Sunny asked.

Naomi let out a dry chuckle and explained, "Well, these eyes are not just for seeing. I'm pretty sure that you know of the decorative things they can do, but I can also use them to commune with the dead. I can help others do so as well."

"Whoa…" Sunny breathed, eyes still wide.

"Yes, the fact they were non-standard eyes was my first clue that I hadn't signed a standard contract…" Naomi murmured bitterly.

"But… weren't you blind by that point?" Sunny asked, collecting some eggs from her chickens to put in the refrigerator for a later time.

"I was _almost _blind; you see, I had retinoblastoma- that's cancer in your retinas- that had remained untreated for a long time. A little while after FOXHOUND's dissolving, I was taken into a hospital run by The Patriots," Naomi explained, "I stayed there for a few days before I was given the choice to have eye transplants and suppressor nano-machines to keep the cancer from reemerging. I accepted and they gave me a contract to sign; I thought it was just a normal payment plan- since I couldn't read it- and signed it. I had actually sold my soul to this company…"

"I never wanted to be a singer. I actually wanted to be a scientist, to get into genetics," Naomi admitted.

"Why? Your voice is amazing!" Sunny remarked.

"It may be my talent, Sunny, but I didn't want that talent. If I had been given sight, a horrible voice, and the chance to become a scientist, I might be happy. I might still be with my older brother," Naomi replied.

"Older brother?" Sunny echoed.

"I suppose you learned that echoing trick from Snake," Naomi noted, "And yes, I had an older brother. He was my connection to FOXHOUND. His name was Frank Jaeger, but Liquid might have called him Gray Fox."

"This is so much to learn a few minutes," Sunny muttered to herself.

Naomi nodded before walking over to Sunny and saying very seriously, "Listen to me: Don't take Zero's cure. I lost all my dreams, my brother gave up on me, and I've been held in bondage for more than seventeen years, all because I signed that contract. I don't want you to lose out on what you want that way either. It's too late for me, but you still have a chance. Can you at least do that for me?"

Naomi's eyes flashed once more, and now not just Wolf was visible to Sunny, but Snake as well.

"_Sunny, she's right; getting involved with The Patriots and Zero will cause nothing but trouble for you,"_ Wolf agreed.

"_Don't submit to him, not even if he tries to use leverage against you. I fell for that too, don't make my mistakes either," _Snake added. Sunny reached out to the specters of her loved ones, but they were gone with a flash of Naomi's eyes. Sunny was about to nod, but both she and Naomi turned to see Hal in the entrance to the kitchen, looking at Naomi with an expression that was less than friendly. Sunny panicked and dashed out of her father's line of sight, leaving Naomi and Hal alone (but she did peek out from the nearest place she could).

"… Hello, Hal," Naomi said simply. She wasn't quite sure what else to say.

"Naomi… How did you get in here? Don't you have a show tonight?" Hal asked.

"How are you, Hal?" Naomi asked in return.

"Busy," Hal replied in a clipped tone.

"You never were a man of many words, Hal," Naomi noted with a passive-aggressive tone. Hal looked at the ground.

He was silent for a few seconds more, so Naomi continued, "Why didn't you just tell me the truth in the very beginning? You knew these eyes let me see the dead; you knew I would find out eventually from Wolf. Why did you tell me that Sunny died? I promised Wolf I would be present in Sunny's life!"

"Please, Naomi, Sunny's sick-"

"Snake told me about that. And I know that she isn't," Naomi interrupted. Hal looked up at Naomi as quickly as Sunny had looked over at her previously, eyes wide in shock. He had never believed Naomi's assertions that her eyes let her see the dead, but there was just no way that she could've found out through normal means; he had covered all of his tracks and made sure he couldn't be traced…

"Naomi-"

"That's not all! I've learned much more, not just from ghosts but also through my own investigations," Naomi continued as she closed the distance between them, "I learned that Zero has been behind _everything_, from the original epidemic to the deaths of Wolf and Snake! It may be too late for me, but you can still do something-"

"Naomi, please leave," Hal murmured weakly. It was Naomi's turn to widen her eyes; he couldn't have given up! Hal had a strong will, it was impossible for it to have been defeated through these years of servitude under Zero.

"Dad, please, let her stay here! If she leaves she's going to die!" Sunny cried, running back into the room.

Before Hal could question what she meant, Sunny continued, "I know about repossessions, and I know that her eyes will be ripped out if she goes and does her performance! We _can't _let her die, we can't!"

Naomi gave Sunny a weak smile herself before she stroked the girl's hair and said, "Sunny, I already told you it was too late for me. A Repo Man isn't going to get my eyes, no matter what I have to do." Naomi walked gracefully away from them and out the door. Sunny stared after her with a frightened expression before running past her father and up the stairs to her room.

Sunny almost leapt at her bed and curled into a ball; she couldn't believe this, how could her father just let her go?! She was her Godmother and her mother's friend! Nothing was adding up, and it infuriated her. After about thirty seconds, Hal had followed her up and was standing in the doorway.

"She was mom's friend. Why did you let her leave like that?" Sunny demanded. Hal walked calmly over to Sunny and knelt to be at eye level with her; Sunny thought it would only be fair to uncurl from her ball to look at him as well.

"Sunny, your mother's death taught me to accept that nothing ever lasts in this world," Hal began as Sunny looked away.

"Foolish dreams can destroy grown men. What chance does a seventeen year old girl have?" Hal finished.

Sunny chewed on her bottom lip for a little bit before she replied, "Yeah, I'm just seventeen… And it's high time you stopped controlling me! I'm almost eighteen, I should be able to make my own decisions! You've kept me locked up for eleven years! I may have been relieved to be back when I got back here the first time, but now that I've met Naomi and Liquid and seen this world through my own eyes I have to get out there again!"

Hal raised an eyebrow in confusion; other than in the cemetery, when she had been outside?

"And now that I know about everything that Naomi said I have to save her! And I've gotta see what Naomi meant when she said he was behind everything, I can't stand by and let him just lord over everyone after what he's done!" Sunny continued, starting to pace. Hal could already tell that her blood pressure was rising.

"I may have you and all the chickens here but I need to find my place! I also need to save my Godmother and stop a disaster from breaking out or something like that! This is just insane, I'm in too deep to get out now! And- And- And-" Sunny couldn't finish, because she had ranted herself into fainting. Hal was astonished for about a minute; he never thought that someone would be able to rant so hard that they'd pass out…

But that astonishment was replaced with worry as Hal rushed to his daughter. Hal carried her back over to her bed- she was _way _too light, and that was his fault- and sat beside her as her heart rate returned to normal.

Sunny's Codec began to beep right then and Hal hacked the frequency; he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion when he recognized it as Zero's. But he still let the message Zero left play.

"_Sunny, I have your cure. Meet me at the opera for it," _Zero's recorded voice said.

Hal frowned and muttered, "So, he wants Sunny…" Hal left the room and hurried down to where he kept his repossession tools, but as soon as Hal got to the bottom of the stairs he was ambushed by several FROGS.

Hal reacted quickly and thanked God that he always kept a scalpel on him; Hal quickly stabbed the first FROG he saw in the jugular vein and slit the throat of another. Hal didn't stop until there was a pile of dead bodies around him.

Without warning, Zero snapped over an open Codec frequency, "All Patriots personnel! Find and eliminate Repo Man Hal Emmerich! He cannot be left alive!"

All Hal could do was mutter "Shit!" under his breath.

**END OF ACT II**


	9. At the Opera Tonight

**ACT III**

**SCENE IX**

Sunny awoke to see a black box about half her height resting on the foot of her bed and a certain blonde Grave Robber leaning on the open window, smirking confidently while her chickens milled around his feet.

Sunny beamed and exclaimed, "Liquid!", before jumping out of her bed to hug the older man.

"Hey there love," Liquid replied before breaking the hug, "We've got an opera to attend, my dear."

Sunny blinked a few times to organize her thoughts before asking, "Why are we heading to the opera?"

"Well, _you _were invited. I heard from a reliable source that you have a mission now, a mission me and my colleagues agree with," Liquid replied. The ill girl could swear that she saw Snake appear beside Liquid for a few seconds. Sunny furrowed her eyebrows and turned to the box on her bed; she now noticed that something was written on it in white.

"_Sunny: This dress used to belong to your mother. I would be honored if you wore it to the opera tonight. Major Zero," _it read. Sunny was past caring about details by this point. Sunny quickly changed into the black dress and slid a blue flower that went with it behind her ear.

"Alright, so how are we doing this?" Sunny asked, turning to Liquid. Liquid smirked and offered his hand once again; Sunny took it almost instinctively. Liquid led her to the window- Sunny noticed the bars that surrounded the windows were bent and broken now- and Sunny gasped at what she saw on the street below; the car she remembered had belonged to Zero was nothing more than a hunk of scrap metal and the driver was unconscious nearby.

Sunny didn't have much more time to gawk, for Liquid had thrown her over his shoulder like a potato sack and leapt off the roof before Sunny could even blink. Sunny let out a surprised squeak when they hit the ground, and Liquid didn't let her go until they were out of the gate and onto the street. Liquid let her down gently, but Sunny still frowned at him when he did.

"Thatwas uncalled for Liquid," Sunny huffed.

"It was the quickest way to get you down from there," someone behind Sunny said. The teenage girl turned around to see three people behind her. Closest to her- and the one Sunny assumed had spoken- was an old (but not extremely so, though old enough to have gray hair) man with an eye patch that reminded her very much of Snake. In fact, he looked exactly how Sunny imagined a very old Snake would look. The fact he was smoking a cigar didn't help the resemblance.

A little farther away was a somewhat younger man with silver hair as well; like Snake had, this man wore a bandanna, but his was red. Though she had never seen him before, something about this man was familiar.

Farthest back from Sunny was a woman that couldn't be much older than fifty; the woman was well endowed and bore a striking resemblance to Liquid. Their eyes, hair, posture and smirk were exactly the same; they mirrored each other right down to the calming aura that Liquid provided Sunny with when she saw him. If Sunny knew anything about these people, it was that they could be trusted.

"And we weren't about to push a sick little girl off a roof," the woman commented with a chuckle.

"We're all that's left of FOXHOUND," the old man said, "I'm Big Boss."

"I'm EVA- technically not part of FOXHOUND, but I still think Zero's a prick," the woman mentioned, stepping a little forwards.

"Grey Fox," the younger man said in a stoic tone. Sunny tried not to widen her eyes; _that _was what felt familiar about him! Being near him was almost like being near Naomi.

"There _are_ ghosts among us, but it would take too long to introduce everyone," Liquid added, "Revolver Ocelot is working as a double agent with us, but he has to maintain his cover tonight. The same goes for Psycho Mantis." Sunny nodded politely, and the five of them began to walk up the street.

"So, do you guys know some things I don't about this situation?" Sunny asked.

"Dear, we know _much _more than you," EVA replied teasingly.

"The whole epidemic was caused by Zero trying to take over the world. He got Dr. Jane Clark to engineer an airborne disease that would target a common genetic trait in most humans and called it the Metal Gear Virus. It was designed to make organs fail and fail _hard_. Long after the epidemic, Zero figured out about FOXHOUND. Zero wanted Sniper Wolf as his 'queen', and all of the other members of the unit to work for him," Big Boss began.

"Zero knew we wouldn't come out of our own will, so he had Dr. Clark refine Metal Gear to target specific DNA patterns. Ours. When it was refined, they renamed it Metal Gear REX after the chemical- R.E.X.- that perfected it," Grey Fox continued.

"Big Boss and I found out about Zero's plan. I went undercover to sabotage REX, but I was only able to block the DNA of Snake, Liquid and Big Boss. I weakened the effects the disease would have on Sniper Wolf as well. On another note, Zero realized that REX could be used as a painkiller when mixed with the chemicals F.O.X. and D.I.I., and that's how FOXDIE was made," EVA picked up.

"Zero devised special contracts that would bind us to The Patriots in exchange for nano-machines and organ transplants, then activated REX on us one at a time. Vulcan Raven refused to even set foot in the hospital, so he died. Decoy Octopus actually agreed, but because of Octopus's… 'unique' physiology, the synthetic organs didn't mesh with his system and he died on the operating table. Both Mantis and Ocelot were in on our plan, so they started working for The Patriots before Zero could even activate REX on them. Zero snagged Sniper Wolf, but you know how long that lasted. Big Boss, EVA, and I went underground and made sure we could never be tracked by Zero," Liquid continued.

Snake appeared and continued himself, _"Me and Grey Fox couldn't do that because he had Naomi to look after and I was married. Zero had another version of Metal Gear created- this time it was called RAY- that was less dangerous and used it to have several of my wife's organs fail while speeding up the deterioration of Naomi's eyesight. I got roped into being a Repo Man so that my wife could get the organs she needed, while Gray Fox refused and Naomi was roped into her current contract." _

"I resolved that I would come for Naomi and take her into the underground with the rest of us when she was a little older, but her stardom put her in the public eye too much and I had to keep waiting and waiting for the right time…" Gray Fox muttered almost to himself, his voice weighed down with guilt.

Wolf replaced Snake and went on, _"When you were four years old, Sunny, Zero activated REX on me as revenge. Your father and the other doctors diagnosed me with another disease, and the medicine for that was the missing part of R.E.X. that would kill me. I died when Hal gave it to me, and since technically Hal was guilty of manslaughter because he administered me with the 'poison'. To get him out of jail and let him keep you, Zero made him sign a similar contract to Snake's, binding him to The Patriots." _

Right on cue, Snake replaced Wolf and finished, _"I investigated into Wolf's death and figured out everything, so Zero had me killed in a way that made it look like it was a repossession. Naomi figured out the truth through the records because I had never even made a payment on organs or even signed a contract for synthetic organs." _

"That… is a helluva lot to process in a few minutes," Sunny remarked.

"Well, right now we need to get to the opera. We'll wait to make our move and you'll just do what Zero wants you to so you can get closer to him," Big Boss stated. EVA approached a nearby motorbike and hopped onto it.

EVA patted the seat behind her and said, "Hop on kid, you're riding with me." Sunny nodded and maneuvered herself onto the bike, wrapping her arms around the older woman's waist so that she wouldn't fly away when EVA started the bike up.

"Don't fail us, love!" Liquid called as EVA sped away from the other remnants of FOXHOUND. Sunny simply focused on what the opera would bring…

Hal slid his gloves on with a stern expression; the Emmerich currently wore his normal uniform for repossession, but now he wore it against Zero. It was battle armor now, and he was now a soldier. Hal didn't stop to run his fingers over the bandanna now as he tied it around his forehead; he now felt like he deserved it, now that he wasn't going out on the dark harvest of a Repo Man.

"There's no time for peace now; I have to end this grudge. Zero wants a war… I'll give him an outright slaughter," Hal growled. He then dashed down the tunnels, cutting down any FROGS in his wake…

Fortune obsessively smoothed out the skin of her new face; the last one was a bust and the tone difference would _definitely _have been noticeable on film. This one was exactly her skin tone, but it just wouldn't stay… Damn surgeons weren't good for anything! But she'd have to make do with this face; the opera was going to start soon and she _couldn't _be late for her debut performance. By God, she'd show up that Naomi something fierce tonight…

Zero grinned maliciously as he watched all the attendees of the opera flood into Big Shell Square; everything was going just right, just as he planned…

Vamp ran his tongue over the knife to test its sharpness; as his blood trickled down the blade, Vamp smirked. Everything was going perfectly…

Raiden switched between all his faces, checking to see if the Facecamo was working just right; he smirked as billions of beautiful women flashed before his eyes. Everything was going perfectly…

Naomi Hunter let out a heavy sigh as she stared at herself in the mirror; this plan was not one she looked forward to carrying out. But, she had to. No Repo Man would get her eyes. She had made her peace, she held no grudge, and she would go out a free woman.

"I'm going to sing my final song, tonight. Frankie, I really hope you're going to see my last performance," Naomi murmured as her eyes flashed. She could see The Sorrow floating behind her in the mirror; The Sorrow almost always smiled, but now he wasn't smiling. Right now, he was living up to his name.

"_Naomi, you don't have to go through with this," _The Sorrow said.

"Yes, I do. Nobody's coming to rescue me, I have to take my fate into my own hands," Naomi replied somberly as she stood. Her eyes flashed once more, banishing The Sorrow from her vision just a second too early.

EVA's motorcycle halted just a little bit before the gates of Big Shell Square. Sunny jumped off the bike and looked over her shoulder at the older woman.

"Don't let us down, hon!" EVA called before she sped off once more.

"I promise I won't," Sunny whispered before running to the gates with her long skirt in her hands, trying to ignore the distracting flashes of the cameras and chatter of the paparazzi. She was met by Psycho Mantis at the threshold.

"Come on, this way," Mantis ordered, pointing over his shoulder in the direction he meant. Sunny nodded and followed the psychic into the square.

And with that, the curtain opened, and the opera began.


	10. Snake Eater

**SCENE X**

The elevator opened with a 'ding!', and Sunny timidly walked out into a pitch-dark room (really the backstage, unbeknownst to Sunny). She had a good feeling that Mantis wasn't going to follow her out, so she didn't bother looking behind her. From out of nowhere, a beam of light cut through the darkness and illuminated the nearest wall in a neat square. Sunny had seen this before; it was an old-style video projector. The square of light changed from a blank slate to a recorded video of Major Zero. Once more, he was smirking.

"_Ah, Sunny. If this is playing, then you've made it in time my dear. Your cure is close, you could almost taste it by this point. It's waiting, but there's one thing we need you to do. Help us, dear Sunny," _The image of Major Zero speaking switched to shots of that dark-haired man from the graveyard, all with his back turned to her or his face shadowed, _"This former member of The Patriots has gone rogue. You saw him once, in the graveyard, but the FROGS were able to get to you in time. Now he's set his sights on you, so be on guard! He's out there Sunny, and we're going to use you as bait to lure him out. Forgive me for that, but this is your defining moment! Will you let yourself be trapped, Sunny? Or will you use the trap to trap him?" _

The film stopped right there, and Sunny chewed her bottom lip anxiously; Big Boss told her to do what Zero asked of her, but should she really go up against a psychopath?!

"_Put your hands together for The Patriots' favorite- and only- daughter, Fortuuuune~!" _the announcer crowed through the intercom. This drew Sunny's attention away from her predicament quite nicely…

Fortune took the stage with flair and dignity, strutting her stuff like a proud peacock; indeed, she felt very much like the bird in question. Tonight was her night, the music was playing for _her_, everyone in the crowd was cheering for _her, she_ was going to sing and upstage Naomi tonight!

"_What a thri~ill, with dark-ness and si-lence through the ni~ight… What a thri~ill, I'm search-ing and I'll melt in-to yo~ou," _Fortune sang, making sure that any pushing up of her face would look just like a provocative dance move. Fortune laughed in her mind, Naomi was probably squirming since Fortune was trumping her at her own _signature _song!

"_What a fear in my he~eart, but you're so supreeeeeme-" _Fortune cut _herself _off as she knocked over the microphone with her arm. She could hear the 'boo's, but she didn't think it could get any worse than this…

But when she bent over to pick up the microphone…

Her face fell off.

The jeering increased in volume while some people reeled back, shrieking in disgust at the sight of Fortune's exposed muscle tissue. Fortune quickly grabbed her face from the floor and sprinted off the stage, tears stinging the uncovered muscles. This was horrible, _everything _had gone wrong so quickly!! All Fortune wanted to do was hide under some rock and cry this night away.

"I want Scott Dolph- I want my _real _father!" Fortune sobbed to herself…

Sunny fell to the ground, curling into a ball; she may have a mission now, but she _still_ didn't know what to do!

"_Find the Repo Man for me and you will get your cure," _Zero hissed over her Codec. Sunny ran her hands through her hair, scared and unsure…

"Dad…" Sunny whimpered; he was probably worried sick about her right now, even though she had probably hurt him earlier with her rant. The chickens were probably worried too- more likely Plasma was, since she seemed to be the one with the highest IQ. Once again, just like when she had been out with Liquid the first time, she wanted to go home.

She wanted to be ignorant, naïve, stir-crazy and bored again. She wanted to be alone with the books that had given her so much practical intelligence, she wanted to try to make sunny-side-up eggs and fail several times, she wanted to gaze out her windows and long for the outside world.

"I just want things to be normal again," she whispered.

"You're in too deep, love. You can't back out now." Sunny slowly looked up to see Liquid leaning next to her with a sympathetic smile.

"If anything, you look like you could use a hug," he mentioned.

"… Please?" Sunny whimpered. Liquid let out a light chuckle before sitting next to her and wrapping one arm around her shoulders; the ill girl just leaned into his shoulder.

"Shouldn't you be with Big Boss n' the others?" Sunny mumbled.

"I told them the truth; I told them that I was checking up on something important," Liquid answered with a light smile. Sunny smiled a little herself.

"Thanks," she whispered.

"No worries, love. You remember what I said back on the garbage truck," Liquid replied. Sunny nodded and smiled a little wider; it felt better than anything else to know that someone was looking out for her. It must've been why she loved her father so incredibly much.

Sunny stood and beamed at Liquid before saying, "Thanks for looking out for me, Liquid. Now, we've both got jobs to do." Sunny then grabbed her skirt and ran to find a weapon as the intercom announced Naomi's taking of the stage. Liquid smiled after the girl and was about to leave when Snake appeared from nowhere with an appreciative smile.

"What is it?" Liquid asked.

"_Thanks for looking after the kid, Liquid," _Snake said, _"Maybe you're not so bad of a brother after all." _

Liquid chuckled before he scoffed, "Please, brother. Remember _I _was the one hating _you_." He then ran off to reunite with FOXHOUND's survivors.


	11. The Best Is Yet To Come

**SCENE XI**

Naomi descended to the stage- decorated now to look like a wintry scene with wrought iron fences there for some reason- on wires, looking something like an angel. Naomi began to sing as she was brought down the floor, something in Gaelic that hardly anyone could understand.

"_An cuimhin leat an gra_

_Cra croi an ghra_

_Nil anois ach ceol na h-oiche_

_Taim siorai i ngra_

_Leannain le smal_

_Leannain le smal,"_

Nearby, FOXHOUND was lying in wait to make their move. EVA smirked and murmured,

"Your sister has a gift, Gray Fox."

"Not one she wanted," Gray Fox replied.

"_Lig leis agus beidh leat_

_Lig leis agus beidh gra…" _

Zero watched from just off stage, perfectly emotionless; something about the two long, sharp, false fingernails Naomi wore seemed suspicious…

"_Cuimhne leat an t-am_

_Nuair a bhi tu sasta_

_An cuimhne leat an t-am_

_Nuair a bhi tu ag gaire_

_Ta an saol iontach_

_ma chreideann tu ann," _

Fortune seethed from where she was watching; they _still _adored Naomi, and they always would. The bitch's voice was almost unnatural, it just wasn't fair!

"_Tug aghaidh ar an saoi_

_is sonas siorai inar measc_

_Ceard a tharla do na_

_laethanta sin_

_Ceard a tharla do na_

_h-oicheanta sin," _

Raiden and Vamp watched as well, both of them smirking maliciously; not much longer now…

"_An cuimhin leat an t-am_

_Nuair a bhi tu faoi bhron_

_An cuimhin leat an t-am_

_Go siorai sileadh na ndeaor_

_An ormsa na orainne a bhi_

_an locht,"_

As the music interrupted her and she was slowly brought back into the air (but not all the way into the rafters) right over one of the wrought iron fences, Naomi looked over everything with a melancholy expression; she wanted to absorb it all, make sure she could remember it for the rest of her life. Her eyes flashed, sending dazzling trails of blue light spiraling all around her but leaving her eyes a glowing cerulean.

"_Ag mothu cailite s'ar fan_

_Cen fath an t-achrann is_

_sileadh na ndeor_

_Ta ailleacht sa saol_

_Ma chuardaionn tu e_

_Ta gliondar sa saol_

_Cuardaimis e," _

Naomi sang the fading, wordless notes that ended the song, a small smile gracing her features now. It was time. When the applause began, Naomi grinned and let out a bitter laugh that stopped it cold.

"Well, I suppose I should say farewell, since I won't be seeing any of you again," Naomi mused calmly…

… then violently jabbed her sharp false fingernails into her eyes.

Blood drowned her vision as she twisted her fingers around to drive in the destruction; it hurt like a Goddamn bitch, but she had to go the extra mile. Even if Zero was able to get her eyes out himself, they would be unusable. The Patriots wouldn't have them… She was _free_.

The audience let out gasps and shrieks of horror that didn't even compare to their reactions to Fortune's face falling off; the trails of blue light disappeared from the air and Naomi could hear The Sorrow, Wolf and Snake calling out to her one last time… The three ghosts were then replaced by one voice Naomi heard above all the noise.

"NAOMI!!!" Grey Fox cried, his face a perfect depiction of pure horror. And why wouldn't it be?! His _little sister _had just _BLINDED HERSELF!! _

"… Frankie?" Naomi whispered. He was here… How…?

"No! I'm _getting __**that FACE!!**_" Raiden screeched. Faster than he had ever moved before, Raiden drew his sword and sliced the ropes holding Naomi up. The singer plummeted a few feet, but instead of getting impaled by the fence's sharp spikes Grey Fox caught her in midair. The ex-soldier had actually leapt from where he had been and caught Naomi, his velocity causing them to land where Zero would've been just moments before.

"DAMN IT TO HELL!!!" Raiden roared. The effeminate- but now _very _threatening- man sprinted around the curtain, Vamp on his heels, determined to get the face of the singer.

"Frankie? You're here- I thought you gave up on me," Naomi breathed, embracing her brother.

"I would never give up on you Naomi, not ever. You're my little sister, and I'll always be here for you," Grey Fox murmured, stroking Naomi's hair soothingly. Bloody tears leaked from one of the Naomi's damaged tear ducts, making her look similar to The Sorrow in a way, as she buried her face in her brother's shoulder.

"Frankie, I'm so sorry I didn't trust you, I should've-" Naomi's sentence was cut short by a loud 'BANG!!'. A bullet ripped through Grey Fox's shoulder, not stopping until it had made it's way through Naomi's forehead and buried itself in the wall. All the strength left Naomi's body and the woman fell to the floor with a sickening 'thud'.

Grey Fox was in shock for a few seconds before he whipped around to face whoever had just murdered his sister, bloodlust and indescribable rage in his eyes. Zero stood right in the way of Grey Fox's glare, holding the literal smoking gun; the Englishman coughed violently into his sleeve, but still retained his dignity.

Grey Fox let out a wordless, ferocious roar before he leapt at Zero, the desire to rip the man apart with his bare hands radiating off of him in murderous waves. But Grey Fox was stopped short as Raiden's sword plunged through his shoulder where the bullet had gone and stabbed itself deep into the floor below, taking Grey Fox down with it and pinning him on his stomach. The soldier couldn't feel the pain at all and kept trying to crawl towards Zero, just making the damage to his shoulder all the worse.

Vamp grinned maliciously as he let go of the sword's handle before glancing over at his brother in contempt; the effeminate man had been standing there with an expression of horrific realization the minute he had gotten to the current area. Vamp didn't know or care what had come over Raiden, all he cared about was being able to use Raiden's bitchin' sword.

As Raiden stared at the struggling Grey Fox with wide eyes, one thought went through his head: _What in God's name have I done all these years?!_

The cameras could care little about the struggling of Grey Fox; all they were focused on was the corpse of Naomi Hunter lying on the floor, blood streaming out of her eyes and forehead while she lay motionless on the ground. The audience was completely silent. You could hear a pin drop out there… From nowhere, Zero took the stage with an almost maniacal grin.

"Calm yourselves, ladies and gentlemen, this is all part of the show!" Zero exclaimed, fighting back coughs.

"You may have created an immoral world of unintelligent surgery-holics, but not even these people would believe that load of crap." Zero's eye widened as he heard that along with the cocking of a handgun. He whirled around to stage 'right' and would've gasped if violent coughing didn't replace that.

"Big Boss…?!"

"The one and only, you British son of a bitch."


	12. Finale

**SCENE XII**

Hal crept stealthily behind the curtain, staying out of sight so that he could best sneak up on Zero. He hadn't been able to hear a thing that had just happened (though he was aware that something insane had just gone down), but it didn't matter to him; all that mattered was destroying Zero…

Hal suddenly glanced over his shoulder; there was nothing there but several props and a cardboard box. The ex-Repo Man furrowed his eyebrows, he could've sworn he had heard some shuffling behind him… Hal continued a little ways more, but looked over his shoulder again when the shuffling resumed. Now he noticed something: the cardboard box was now just a few paces behind him. Boxes weren't supposed to move, at least not usually.

Before Hal could investigate this box, whoever was underneath emerged quicker than Hal could process and threw the box at him with a shrill battle cry; the box hit him in the face, stunning him momentarily. This provided a large enough window for the person to smack him on the top of the head with a shovel. Hal let out a short, painful cry before shaking it off and getting into a CQC stance so that he could fight off his opponent…

Hal dropped the stance almost immediately when he saw that he wasn't facing a FROG or some other Repo Man. Standing before him was Sunny, eyes wide in horror and hands limp, the shovel having fallen from her grip seconds before and landing near her feet with a hollow 'clang!' The father and daughter were quiet for some time, for neither knew what words to use.

"Sunny," Hal began, walking towards his daughter, but Sunny just kept backing away. The ill girl shook her head slowly, her mouth opening halfway but no sound coming out. Sunny then whirled around on her heel and sprinted around the curtain to the stage, not even thinking of looking behind her.

"Sunny!" Hal called desperately, reaching out to her, but she paid him no heed. The Emmerich stared after her for a few seconds before burying his face in his hand out of shame.

"Ferishteh… Now I've lost our daughter, too…" Hal whispered, trying to choke back to urge to break down right there. At that thought, Hal took a few deep breaths to regain his composure and dashed around to the stage. Hal started off strong, cutting down any of the FROGS that tried to block his path before the wind was knocked out of him from behind. Right as Hal doubled over in pain, he was knocked to the floor and pinned there; he tried to struggle, but whoever had him wasn't letting go any time soon.

Vamp let out a cackle as the FROGS finished his work and pinned the Repo Man to the ground; it looked like those bitches were good for at least something.

Sunny's eyes darted around the stage frantically; her father was being pinned to the ground by two FROGs, Zero and Big Boss were center stage- Big Boss pointing a SOCOM pistol at the Englishman, and off to her right…

Sunny held down a gasp, because lying just offstage in a puddle of her own blood with her eyes mutilated beyond retrieval and a hole straight through her forehead was the corpse of Naomi Hunter. There was so much blood… Sunny thought she might vomit.

"Naomi- what happened out here?!" Sunny exclaimed, turning to the two older men near her with an expression of shocked horror.

Zero grinned maniacally and replied, "Well my dear-" Zero paused to cough violently into his sleeve- "That would be the work of your dear _father _the Repo Man-"

"I keep telling you that lying isn't working at this stage, but you still just don't get it," Big Boss interrupted, "Naomi mutilated her own eyes. Zero shot through Grey Fox to kill Naomi." Sunny's eyes widened even more before narrowing them angrily; first her mother, now her godmother?! She had many more reasons to hate Zero now.

"I suppose honesty truly is a better policy in this situation," Zero commented, his grin returning. The Englishman chuckled devilishly before pointing semi-dramatically at Hal and declaring,

"Then I present to you Sunny Emmerich, Hal Emmerich! A Repo Man, and the man who has been making you sick!" Hal's eyes widened in shock and Sunny's couldn't go any wider.

"Wha-"

"He's been poisoning you since Snake died! Your _own father _has given you this blood disease my dear, and you will be cured right here! You've exceeded all my plans," Zero elaborated.

"Much better than Fortune ever could," Vamp mentioned with a haughty grin.

"Much better than _you _ever could," Zero spat.

"Wha-?"

"You and your siblings are worthless! None of you are getting a thing, but The Patriots will still live on without me," Zero proclaimed, pausing to cough and to glare over his shoulder at Big Boss, "My will has been signed! The moment my illness claims me- or the moment Big Boss pulls the trigger- everything goes to Sunny!"

Sunny's blood pressure was rising as her breathing picked up speed (everything was going so fast and so much was being revealed, it was more than her weak heart could take), and she didn't need her Codec to tell her this. Sunny could feel herself growing weaker and weaker by the second, falling to her knees but trying not to faint.

"I- I need the medicine," Sunny whispered.

"No, _you don't_. Keep your will, girl!" Zero commanded with a maniacal glee.

"Sunny!" Hal shouted, desperately trying to break free of the FROGs holding him down but to no avail.

"P-please, I can't faint," Sunny choked out, falling from her knees to just keeping herself barely off the ground with her elbows. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes as Zero ignored her pleas.

"Oh God- Someone, please, help her!" Hal exclaimed, his struggling becoming stronger _and _weaker as Sunny lost more and more strength. Sunny could hear Liquid call out to her as she lost all the strength in her body and her face hit the hardwood floor, but right then she lost consciousness, the last sound she remembered being her Codec alerting her that she needed to medicate immediately…

Fortune had to stifle a gasp as her Codec beeped in her ear. She then furrowed her eyebrows; who in the world knew her Codec frequency? She answered it nonetheless.

"_Fortune. Phase one of Operation DEAD CELL has begun. Are you in a position where you, Vamp and Raiden can leave without being noticed?" _Fortune had to stifle another gasp; it was Solidus! She hadn't expected the operation to begin so soon…

"Yes, I think so," Fortune replied steadily.

"_Good. Chinaman, Fatman and Oldboy are already here. Get to Arsenal as soon as possible and alert Vamp and Raiden," _Solidus ordered before cutting off the call. Fortune wasted no time; the dark skinned woman stealthily crept up behind Vamp and yanked him backstage before grabbing Raiden as well.

"What the hell, sis?!" Vamp snapped, shaking Fortune's hand off his arm with a glare. Raiden just stared at his sister blankly.

"Solidus contacted me. Looks like phase one of DEAD CELL is starting sooner than we thought," Fortune muttered. Vamp's eyes widened a bit and Raiden's eyebrows went up a little.

"Huh… Are the others already at Arsenal?" Raiden asked. Fortune nodded and Vamp grinned a malicious grin.

"I've been working this sleeper cell since I was five, thank _God _we're out of here!" Vamp exclaimed before Fortune clamped a hand over his mouth.

"We have to get out of here _without being noticed!_" Fortune reminded him.

"Right right… Let's go."

Sunny's unconscious mind was a blur; everything that had happened that night rushed through her mind like a cheetah on speed. It was a rush of colors, figures, music and distinct words that were more important than most… Either that or they just stuck better. But suddenly, through the rush of color and sound, a figure appeared; her mother.

"_Sweetheart, Sunny, you have to fight this! This can't end without you," _Wolf pleaded. And suddenly she was replaced by Snake.

"_Come on kid, you've gotta get through it!" _Snake declared. And then, he was replaced with a new ghost altogether. This was an older woman with blonde hair pulled into a ponytail and blue-grey eyes. She wore a black, poncho-style raincoat over something silver and definitely not conventional. Though she looked to be in her early forties, she had a face that looked much more tired than a woman that old ought to have looked. Like she had seen all a person would ever need to in her life and had been ready to die.

"_Kid, you're not just looking after yourself now. You must pull through, for everyone," _the woman said softly. Sunny's eyes shot open at that, and as she pushed herself off the floor with her regained strength, she could tell that not much time had just passed. Now, her father was being held on his feet by the FROGS, Big Boss was nowhere to be found, and Zero was coughing into his sleeve once more.

"You see? You truly could overcome it my dear! Now, you must overcome everything, by destroying the original cause of your disease," Zero remarked almost theatrically, shoving a pistol into her hands and turning her to face her father, "Kill him!"

Sunny stared at her father while he stared at the floor, eyes wide once more; maybe staying unconscious was a better idea. Now, she didn't even have Big Boss or that ghost woman to tell her how to proceed! What should she do now-?!

"Sunny, listen to me," Hal said evenly, looking up at Sunny with an almost hopeless look. Sunny decided to give him her attention…

"… I understand if you hate me. It's true, everything about me poisoning you all these years. There's no excuse for doing it, I know, but- I had already lost Snake and your mother, I just couldn't lose anyone else," Hal began, "but I need you to understand, I took up this horrible job of taking people's organs so that I could keep you safe."

Hal smiled sadly at his daughter and continued, "I've done everything up until now to protect you, because I love you. You can kill me if you want, I don't mind if it's you. I deserve it anyways. Sweetheart, you're the world to me."

Sunny stared at her father in awe for a little bit before she gulped, turned on her heel and stared down Zero with a steely gaze. She had made her decision. Sunny pointed the gun at Zero and snapped,

"I am many things. I'm the daughter of Hall Emmerich and Ferishteh Rekani-Emmerich, I'm half-Kurdish, I'm book-smart, and I'm a pretty bad cook. But I'll tell you the one thing I know I am not: A murderer. And as much as I would _love _to blow your brains out right now, turning that point right there on it's head…" Sunny paused to smirk, "I would _never _kill a _sick old man._"

And Zero snapped. His remaining intact eye widened and he shouted,

"SICK OLD MAN?!? I AM THE MAN WHO CURED THE- (cough cough cough cough)- WHOLE BLEEDING WORLD!!! I STARTED THE BLOODY PATRIOTS FOR- (cough cough cough)- THE LOVE OF GOD!!! RIGHT NOW I CONTROL THE PLANET!!! YOU LITTLE BLEEDING- (cough)- BITCH!!!"

Zero grabbed the pistol from Sunny's hands, shoving her aside in the process, before shooting Hal and missing his heart just barely.

"DAD!!!" Sunny shrieked, sprinting towards her father as the FROGs released his arms in a panic, leaving him to slump to the floor. Zero began coughing so hard you could swear he was hacking his lungs out. Suddenly, Grey Fox smashed his- now bandaged- shoulder right into the Englishman's lower back, knocking the wind out of him and sending him to the floor. Grey Fox kept him pinned to the floor, determined not to let him get away this time.

"Great tackle, Jaeger," Ocelot commented from where FOXHOUND stood offstage, laughing a bit as he did. Big Boss smirked as well and walked back onto the stage, aiming his SOCOM at Zero's head. Zero didn't notice between his violent coughing and his rambling.

"You bleeding idiots!! You can't kill me- you'll all die without me!! You'll know you needed me, every last one of you!!" Zero shouted.

"Damn, I _really _hate that I'm putting you out of your misery," Big Boss muttered before shooting Zero straight through the skull. Zero's blood and brains splattered onto the stage, and the old Englishman coughed no more.

But Sunny didn't notice or care. All she cared about was her father, dying in her arms.

"Dad, you can't go, not now!" Sunny cried, tears streaming down her face as she knelt beside her father, blood leaking from where he was shot. Hal smiled weakly at Sunny and murmured,

"Your mother's calling me, Sunny. I have to… Sweetheart…"

"Dad… Please," Sunny sobbed, unable to say much more.

"Stay strong for me… Can you do that?" Hal asked, reaching up to brush his daughter's tears away.

Sunny sniffled a little choked back more sobs, and replied, "I- I think so, Dad…"

"That's good… I know that you can change the world, sweetheart," Hal murmured.

"I love you, Daddy!" Sunny exclaimed, a fresh wave of tears pouring down from her brown eyes.

"I love you too, Sunny…" and Hal's head lolled to the side, his expression blank. His arm fell limply to one side, letting Sunny's tears flow unimpeded down her pale cheeks. He was gone. Sunny was by no means a pretty crier; no, she sobbed loud and hard, pleading incoherently for her father to please please get up. Liquid emerged from the shadows, unable to take this anymore, and knelt by Sunny's side to better wrap her in a tight hug. Sunny grabbed tightly onto Liquid's coat, sobbing into his chest and not even remembering the audience.

Sunny cried for a minute or so more before she was able to wipe away her tears and stand up on semi-wobbly knees. Liquid supported her gently, not saying a word but his eyes locked on her.

"You heard Zero, kid. The Patriots belong to you now," Big Boss commented as he walked over to Sunny, calm as anything. Sunny nodded, mostly to herself, before putting on a brave face and looking over at Big Boss.

"Yeah. I can tell that you had big plans for The Patriots as a whole, so, my first act as the head of The Patriots is to relinquish everything that belongs to The Patriots over to you, Big Boss," Sunny replied with a half-hearted grin. Big Boss smirked before turning out to the audience. Surprisingly, they had all stayed. Hey, even though it was real, it was too good of a show to miss.

"You heard the girl. Your precious Patriots belong to me now, and from now on you'll be calling us," Big Boss paused dramatically to smirk a little wider, "Outer Heaven."

"And boy oh boy do we have big plans for the lot of you," EVA mentioned with her own smirk, sauntering onstage as well. FOXHOUND made its way out of the shadows right then, the broken unit all taking the spotlight for the first time. Sunny kept her brave face as she descended from the stage with the others to leave through the audience, her head held high and proud. She had just changed the world, as her father had asked her to. If anyone in the audience were observant enough, they would see more figures with the retreating unit; although, the light would sift through these figures and they would have a bluish tint to them.

One of these figures was a brown haired man with blue-grey eyes smoking a cigarette, who looked a lot like Big Boss in his younger years. He looked proud of the living beside him.

Another was a woman with golden hair that covered one of her blue eyes and skin too pale for her ethnicity. She looked full of love and happiness.

By her side was the Repo Man they had just seen die, now looking at peace.

Yet another was a smiling man with glasses, one bloody tear, receding grey hair and army fatigues with a raincoat. He looked much too happy for the emotion he used as a name.

By his side was a blonde, tired looking woman in a similar raincoat. She hadn't done much, but had enjoyed the show and couldn't be more proud of her boys.

And another was the singer they all saw die on national television. She had her true eyes that were beautiful chocolate brown, how they were meant to be.

Another still was a large American Indian man covered with mystical tattoos. He would assure his comrades that the raven on his head approved of their actions.

Yet _another _was a floating trench coat and fedora. Nobody could tell what he thought of this.

There were so many more that it was staggering.

As they left Big Shell Square, Liquid quietly asked Sunny, "What're you gonna do now, love?"

Sunny considered it for a short time, before she said, "… I'd like to go home."

_Well, that's it. Thanks for reading this, and I would like to say that it seems like I do strange things to my adaptations. In my Bleach __Beauty and the Beast__ thing, it was a little grittier, while in this it's a little lighter since it's already gritty… Anyways, I hope you liked this. Nothing ever is or was mine. _


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